


Here to Watch Over Me

by 2amEuphoria



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Brightwell, Dani's being soft!Dani but also Dani!Dani, F/M, I am clearly brightwell t-r-a-s-h, Malcolm's smiling more in this fanfic than he has during the entire duration of Season 1 so far, Requested by anon, brightwell fluff, including baby brightwell at the end, quality fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-30 05:31:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21422971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2amEuphoria/pseuds/2amEuphoria
Summary: Dani can sing these songs with or without the music playing in the background, and sing them well. But she never sang them in front of Malcolm, ever. Only when she thought she was alone.A collection of moments when Malcolm tries to catch Dani singing. Just happy Brightwell fluff.
Relationships: Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Comments: 16
Kudos: 82





	Here to Watch Over Me

Since she moved in with him three weeks ago, he’s picked up on many of her quirks. She puts his meds away when he’s left them on the counter for too long. Her idea of making the bed is just throwing the top sheet over everything and smoothing it out once with her hands. And she sings to herself, sometimes softly under her breath, sometimes in her normal voice, as she goes about her day.

Most of the time she sings along to whatever she puts on his stereo while she’s doing house chores or cooking. Her music taste varies: he’s been introduced to plenty of R&B and rap artists from her (especially Drake, who she can listen to for hours straight-in fact, she did just that one rainy Saturday), but also indie, alternative, top 40 pop, or whatever else she’s found on Spotify. She’ll put a playlist on and either hum or sing quietly as she moves around the apartment.

But what Malcolm loves most is when she sings the songs she knows from memory. They’re older songs: songs from the 30s through the 60s. Songs she says her grandmother would sing to her as a child when she couldn’t sleep. “She had a voice that could shut up an entire room or have you out cold in 2 minutes,” Dani had told him once. “When she sang me to sleep I’d never know exactly when I’d passed out. I wonder if I could still hear her as I was starting to dream.”

Dani can sing these songs with or without the music playing in the background, and sing them _ well _ . But she never sang them in front of Malcolm, ever. Only when she thought she was alone. 

One Sunday afternoon, 2 weeks after she’d moved in, she slipped away to shower and do her hair while Malcolm was reading. When he heard the sound of her voice over the running water, and he deviously smiled and tossed his book aside to tip-toe over to the bathroom door. 

_ “Stars shining bright above you,_  
_ Night breezes seem to whisper ‘I love you,’ _  
_ Birds singin’ in the sycamore tree,_  
_Dream a little dream of me…”_  


_ _He pressed an ear to the door, a smile spreading over his lips. He loved “Dream a Little Dream of Me” in general, and heard plenty of covers of it over the years, but (and he knew he was biased about this) he liked Dani’s “cover” the most._ _

_ _She was washing her hair as she sang, he could tell from the squelching and squirting of the shampoo bottles and the sound of the scalp massager (he told her she was a lifesaver for introducing him to that thing) in her hair. She claimed she sang to help pass the time since washing her hair could take a while, but Malcolm secretly believed she sang during this time because she felt so relaxed._ _

__ _ “Say nighty-night and kiss me,_  
_ Just hold me tight and tell me you’ll miss me,_  
_ While I’m alone and blue as - ** Malcolm! I see your feet under the door!" **_  


_ _He flinched, and then started laughing. She somehow __ always __ knew when he was listening._ _

_ _“I-I’m sorry, I thought you might like an audience!” he called from the opposite side of the door, trying to suppress his laughter-he knew he was in trouble._ _

_ _“Huh, well, you have to buy tickets for this concert, dude,” she called back. Malcolm imagined her face-a little pissed off, a little embarrassed, her cheeks slightly red._ _

_ _“That can be arranged,” Malcolm smirked and went for the doorknob, only to find it was locked._ _

_ _He heard Dani laugh from inside the bathroom as he jiggled the door. “Sorry, sold out. Come back next time for a backstage meet-and-greet though, I’d love to have you.” _ _

_ _He rolled his eyes and walked back to his book. He couldn’t fight the smile that stayed on his face._ _

_ __________________________ _

_ _It was Valentine’s day evening, about a year after they’d started dating. He’d finally convinced her to go out to dinner, after spending a whole day at work trying to fight her reasoning that “it’s a pointless holiday” and “you’ve shown me you love me every other day, what makes today any different?” (He had a really hard time finding a retort for the latter comment, because it took him by surprise and left him at a loss for words). _ _

_ _They’d just gotten back from an old Italian restaurant, and she was taking her makeup off in the bathroom. As he was changing out of his suit and into a t-shirt and sweatpants, he realized Dani made two mistakes._ _

_ _First, she was singing again._ _

_ _And second, she’d left the bathroom door slightly ajar._ _

_ _He grabbed his phone off his nightstand and crept cautiously over to the bathroom, pressing himself against the wall. He tried not to laugh as he realized he had just approached the bathroom the way he would to search for a possibly-armed suspect, when all he was doing was trying to catch a recording of his fiancé singing to herself._ _

__ __ _ “Moon River, wider than a mile,_  
_ I’m crossing you in style someday…_  
_ Oh dream maker, you heartbreaker, _  
_Wherever you’re going,_  
_I’m going your way….” _  


_ _He’d spent too long debating if he wanted to record her with a video or just with an audio recording. He finally settled on video, and took a risk by inching his phone closer and closer to the opening in the bathroom._ _

__ ____ _“Two drifters, off to see the world,_  
_There’s such a lot of world to see…_  
_We’re after the same rainbow’s e- _** Malcolm!" **  


_ __ _

_ _ __ _ _

_ _With one swift movement she extended a leg and kicked the door shut, nearly closing it on his fingers and causing him to drop his phone on the bathroom floor._ _

_ _He was simultaneously impressed and stunned that she did that. “You nearly took half my hand off!” he gasped, a breathless laugh escaping him._ _

_ _“Party of one in this bathroom right now, I made reservations. Bye!” He could hear her giggling at her own comment._ _

_ _He shook his head in disbelief. She was unbelievable. _ _

_ _He loved that about her._ _

_ __________________________ _

_ _For a moment, he didn’t quite understand what he was hearing._ _

_ _He’d woken up from a nap in the middle of the afternoon (he was shocked in general that he could actually nap during the day now, but hey, maybe having a newborn will do that to anyone, even a chronic insomniac such as himself) and heard not only Alea crying in the distance, but something else, too._ _

_ _Dani._ _

__ Dani was singing to her.  


_ “Angel, angel, whoa-oh-oh-oh, whoa, _  
_Angel, angel, whoa-oh-oh-oh…” _  


_ _As quietly as he could, he shifted his spot on the bed to see that Dani was in the kitchen, his back to him, holding Alea. In her long flowing nightgown he’d gotten her a few months ago, Dani swayed and bounced the 3-week-old with the rhythm of Dani’s singing as a bottle was warming up. Though Alea’s cries seemed to only grow louder, Dani sang to her with a big smile on her face, as if nothing was wrong._ _

__ __ _ “You are my special angel,_  
_Sent from up above..._  
_The Lord smiled down on me,_  
_And sent an angel to love…” _  


_ _He’d gotten a DSLR camera a few weeks ago, having practically no idea how to use it (he’d embarrassingly asked Edrisa for tips, since she’d used those cameras before in the lab), because he wanted to have videos and photos of their daughter growing up. The family videos and pictures of his own childhood held nothing but painful, shattered memories, but he could make newer, more positive memories for him and Dani and most importantly, Alea. Malcolm couldn’t view an old Whitly photo album without having flashbacks, and he didn’t want the same for his own daughter. Alea would have photos and videos of her younger days filled with proof that there was no room for lies and deceit in her family; there was nothing but love._ _

_ _This was the perfect moment to capture: he’d get to record footage of his wife singing and their daughter being unconditionally loved._ _

_ _As luck would have it, the camera had been charging on Dani’s nightstand, so the camera would have a perfect view of them in the kitchen. Malcolm held his breath as he reached over, trying his hardest not to let the clinking noises of his restraints catch Dani’s attention, and turned the camera on. _ _

__ __ _ “You are my special angel,_  
_Right from paradise…_  
_I know that you’re an angel,_  
_Heaven is in your eyes…”_  


_ _Malcolm was thankful that Alea’s cries could overpower the sound of him turning the camera to face Dani in the kitchen._ _

_ _Alea started to cry harder, but Dani’s affect remained unchanged. She continued to sing, a glowing smile sweeping across her features that made Malcolm’s heart swell. _ _

__ __ _ “The smile from your lips brings the summer sunshine, _  
_The tears from your eyes bring the rain. _  
_I feel your touch, your warm embrace, _  
_And I’m in heaven again…” _  


_ _Malcolm had propped himself up in bed now, knowing that Dani was so enraptured by Alea that her gaze wouldn’t leave their daughter unless he called out to her. He watched their private moment peacefully, occasionally glancing at the recording camera’s display screen to make sure it was still in focus.  
With the bottle finally warm, Dani began to try and soothe Alea enough to accept it. As she had begun to walk away from the countertop to move around the perimeter of the island, Malcolm panicked and threw himself back onto the bed, faking sleep as best he could. He occasionally felt as though he was being watched, but Dani continued to sing._ _

__ __ _ “You are my special angel,_  
_ Through eternity… _  
_ I’ll have my special angel,_  
_ Here to watch over me…” _  


_ _ _ _From half-shut eyes he saw that they were now back at the countertop, Dani’s back turned to him again. This time he just turned half his body to lay there and watch them. He had to admit, Dani’s crooning was so soothing that it was nearly putting _ him _ to sleep._ _ _ _

__ __ __ __ _ “A smile from your lips brings the summer sunshine,_  
_ The tears from your eyes bring the rain… _  
_ I feel your touch, your warm embrace, _  
_ And I’m in heaven again…” _  


_ _ _ _Alea’s cries had faded into soft sucking sounds, and Dani’s voice had become the only noise in the room._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Malcolm was thankful he’d finally been able to hear _ and _ watch her sing. He knew that while she had mostly done this for Alea, those songs calmed Dani down, too. They reminded her of her grandmother, who had raised her from the age of 7 until she had passed away when Dani was 22. From the snippets of recollections Dani had told him, Malcolm could tell that she was one of the only reasons why Dani didn’t fall apart when her mother died and her father got sick. When Dani couldn’t sleep at night, wracked by sadness over her parents or fear of the future, her grandmother would sit at her bedside, stroke her hair, and sing songs that Dani would come to remember and rely on for comfort long after she was gone._ _ _ _

__ __ __ __ _ “You are my special angel,_  
_ Through eternity... _  
_ I’ll have my special angel, _  
_Here to watch over me… _  


__ __ __ __ _ Here to watch over me. _  
_ Angel, angel, whoa-oh-oh-oh, oh, oh, oh, oh…” _  


_ _ _ _Dani had finally turned around, only to realize that Malcolm was wide awake, watching them with a huge smile on his face._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _And the red blinking light from the camera on her nightstand showed that it had just recorded _everything_ he'd seen, too.  
_ _ __

_ _ _ _Her eyes widened at him, and she let out a groan._ _ _ _

__ __ __ __ _That sneaky, FBI-trained bastard._  


_ _ _ _“You just caught all of that on video, didn’t you.” She said it as more of a statement than a question, putting the now-finished bottle on the island._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _“Yep.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _“You suck. Also, you suck at fake sleeping. I knew you were awake.” He chuckled at her attempts to try and hide the fact that she’d been caught pouring out her heart and soul to her daughter; though Dani had a soft side, she still felt awkward revealing it at times. “But you _ recorded _ it, too? Ugh, Malcolm…”  
_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _“Sorry, I had to. Hey, look at it this way: it’s for Alea to watch when she’s a grouchy teenager who claims you don’t care about her.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Dani breathed out a laugh and raised her eyebrows at him. “Huh, yeah. Sure, sure.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _“And it’s for me too.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _“Damn you, Malcolm Bright…”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _He laughed even harder this time, before shaking his head and staring up at her from his view against the pillows. “No, no, I think it really should be more for you than me. I know how much those songs mean to you.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Dani’s eyes welled up-her emotional lability after delivering Alea often lead her to crying at the slightest positive (or negative) thing-and she sniffed, shifting Alea to one arm before wiping her eyes. “Thank you.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _“Of course.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Dani let out one quick sob before steadying herself; she didn’t want to wake Alea up. She sniffed and wiped the corners of her eyes again, cleared her throat and came over to sit by him on their bed. Malcolm inched his way over to be near his family, and Dani passed the now-sleeping newborn over to him.  
_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _“You still really do suck at fake sleeping, though.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _“And you’re really good at singing.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _** “Malcolm-" ** Dani’s voice hopped up an octave-_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _“What? It’s tr-"_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _“Just shut up. Or this time I’ll cry because I’m angry.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _“Okay.”_ _ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> Here you go! The next time I post it’ll probably be another chapter of B.O.O.R., but this should keep you all occupied in the meantime :]
> 
> The songs (and their specific covers) that I was thinking of when I pictured Dani singing, in case you want to listen to them, are: 
> 
> *Dream a Little Dream of Me- (a cover, but a popular version) by Mama Cass (Cass Elliot)
> 
> *Moon River- Henry Mancini and His Orchestra
> 
> *My Special Angel-Bobbly Helms (bonus points if anyone can name the two TV shows that feature this song! One is from an AMC show, another from a show by the BBC. Both are currently on Netflix.)
> 
> [Edit: I realize that I’m all over the place with tense in this story; my b. I’ll edit it later if I can.]


End file.
